“Mom, he’s like this now because you and Dad have been spoiling him since childhood! Just look at him! He’ll doom us all if he keeps this jobless deadbeat bullsh*t up!” I shouted angrily while pointing at Steven who was hiding behind her.
I didn’t care if my words would affect my relationship with Steven as I knew for a fact that we would all be done for if we carried on like this.
“How could you say that about your brother?” Mom snapped back at me furiously before Steven could even say anything in response.
She had always defended Steven with a complete disregard for my feelings, and that hadn’t changed one bit even with the state that Steven was in.
“I’m saying this for his own good, Mom! He dropped out of school and is now in his twenties without a proper job! Do you really plan on letting him remain a parasite in our family?”
I wasn’t comfortable with how Mom was defending Steven like that, but I had gotten used to it over time. All I wanted was for Steven to do his part and help support the family with me.
“That’s rude, Anna! How could you call me, your brother, a parasite? Are you implying that Mom and Dad gave birth to a parasite?” Steven retorted as if his actions were completely justified.
“Rude? I wouldn’t be saying that if you did your part in supporting this family!”
Steven was an unrepentant person by nature, so nothing I said or did would ever make him change his ways.
“Anna! Don’t you say that about your brother!”
Mom stepped in front of Steven and glared at me angrily when she saw that I was still going on about it.
“You need to stop defending him, Mom! He’s a grown adult now, and he still doesn’t have a proper job! All he does is gamble, drink, and freeload off us every day! We’ll be done for sooner or later if he doesn’t change his ways!”
Normally, I would’ve stopped scolding him by then, but I refused to that day.
“Anna, I’m going to get angry if you don’t stop treating your brother like this! I know you’ve had it rough at work and all, but you’ve already scolded him, haven’t you? Why don’t you give it a rest now?”
I had wanted to continue scolding Steven, but I knew I wouldn’t hear the end of it from my mom if I did.
Having no other choice, I simply shot him a fierce glare and sat down at the dinner table.
Steven turned out like this because Mom and Dad had spoiled him way too much. They never let him do any work at home and basically treated him like a king of some sort.
“My goodness, I could hear you all arguing from outside the house. What’s going on?” Dad asked as he came in and shot me a displeased glare.
“It’s nothing. Just a little squabble between siblings, that’s all!” Mom spoke up before I could say anything.
“Yeah, it’s fine, Dad. It’s been a long time since I last saw Anna, so I was having a little chat with her,” Steven chimed in as well.
Although extremely furious, I kept my feelings to myself as Dad had a weak heart, and I didn’t want to get into a fight with Steven in front of him.
Meanwhile, Mom had prepared quite a lot of dishes for dinner as I hadn’t returned in a long time.
Mom made all of these dishes just for me… Although my parents were always defending Steven and all, they still care about me! I felt a heartwarming sensation at the thought of that.
However, that feeling was gone as soon as it came when my mom said, “Here you go, Stevie! You’ve gotten so skinny lately, so you need to eat more meat! I knew you were coming back today, so I made these dishes just for you!”
So this meal was meant for Steven, not me… Looks like I’ve overestimated my place in Mom’s heart…
With that in mind, I kept my head low as I finished my meal in silence while Mom continued topping up Steven’s plate throughout dinner.
After doing the dishes, I decided to tell my parents about my reason for coming home. Then, I asked my mom for the hundred thousand, so I could pay Michael back.
I waited till Steven had gone to bed at about nine before knocking on my parents’ door. They had a habit of sleeping late, so they should still be awake by then.
“Come on in,” Mom called out from inside the room.
I opened the door and saw my dad reading a book in bed while my mom was busy knitting something.
“Oh, Anna, what’s the matter?” Mom asked with a confused frown when she saw that it was me.
I simply looked at her in silence as I contemplated on how I should start my sentence.
“You said you had something to tell us, right? Well, what is it?”
Mom stopped her knitting and stared straight at me when she saw me hesitating.
“Mom… I uh… I need you to hand over the hundred thousand so I can pay Michael back.”
I told Mom the reason I had returned. Although my family was short on cash, I couldn’t bring myself to accept Michael’s money as I wasn’t related to him in any way.
Of course, that was just wishful thinking on my part because Mom lashed out at me after hearing what I said.
“You want me to return the money? No way! He gave the money to us, so it’s ours now, and I’m not about to give it back!” she shouted angrily while jumping to her feet.
I frowned in frustration at how agitated she was.
I knew Mom wouldn’t hand it over that easily, but Michael and I are not a couple, so I can’t be accepting his money like this!
“Mom, this money doesn’t belong to us! We should return it to its rightful owner!” I exclaimed anxiously.
“Like I said, he gave it to us, so it’s ours now! He has no right to take it back after giving it to us! Anna, you know how difficult things have been for us, don’t you? This money didn’t come easy, so how could you ask us to just give it up? Do you not care about us at all?”
